Mar 31, 2008

Cho for Congress? -- NC 4th District

CORRECTIONS IN RED

I've long wondered when we'd see an Asian* running for major political office in the Triangle. Now I know.. courtesy of Barry in the comments that the answer is "earlier than I
thought", with Tuan Nguyen running against David Price in 2002. But anyway, back to the 2008 race ->. Korean-born Augustus Cho (R) of Chapel Hill hopes to occupy the NC 4th congressional district seat currently occupied by Rep. David Price (D). But before he goes up against the incumbent, he has to beat B.J. Lawson of Cary in the May 6 Republican primary.

Neither candidate seems to be a major threat to Price, who was re-elected in 2006 with 79% 65%** of the votes in the 4th congressional district (which captures Orange and Durham counties plus Cary and a few other parts of Wake and Chatham counties, but not Raleigh).

Still, it's interesting to visit their websites and to compare their viewpoints to how we suspect our voting neighbors see the world. Incidentally, Cho is a minister and writer whose web tagline is "preserving America's traditional values." Lawson is an MD whose web tagline is "Peace, Prosperity, and Liberty".

Two quotes from Cho's website:

Observing the USFK (United State Forces, Korea) from within* confirmed for me that we not only have unquestionable military superiority but even more important, the right morals that go with it. We are the only ones who refrain from using our incredible arsenal and that is based solely on our historical moral values. This speaks volumes about who we are as a people and culture.

*note: Cho was a civilian employee working as a trainer.

On the Economy: ever since they took over Congress, Democrat leaders have been leading Americans to believe that the federal government is in some sort of revenue crisis. These voices have become even louder with the recent economic troubles. But at $2.4 billion, federal revenue is actually at an all time high in absolute terms, while as a percentage of gross national product (18.7%), it is above the historical average (18.1%). This is not a revenue crisis, and Democrat rhetoric is in such contradiction to the facts that the only conclusion one can draw is they are pursuing an agenda of misleading Americans into accepting massive tax increases. This is unacceptable. There is no economic need for higher taxes when our government wastes so much of what they already take in. Our current representative does not understand this. I not only believe that taxes need to remain low, but that there are positive steps we can take to make taxes simpler and fairer.

From BJ Lawson's website:

Big government inevitably becomes a tool for corporate and special interests instead of a guardian of individual liberty. Today, big government has given us significant problems: rising food prices, jobs going overseas, illegal immigration, porous borders, failing education, war and occupation, foreign oil addiction, unsustainable entitlement spending, and a crushing debt burden. Since our bloated bureaucracy caused these problems, more bureaucracy cannot solve them. Instead, we need a smaller federal government that is focused on its Constitutional responsibilities.

On Civil Rights and Civil Liberties: At the birth of our nation, concerned states including North Carolina refused to ratify the Constitution without the accompanying Bill of Rights. Our founders would never have tolerated today’s assault on civil rights, individual liberty, and personal privacy. The Patriot Act? The Military Commissions Act of 2006? A National ID Card via RealID? The Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007? No, thanks.
As your Congressman, I will fight legislation that erodes our civil liberties. Additionally, I strongly support the American Freedom Agenda Act of 2007.